1.) It all begins the moment you CONTACT US. We will answer questions, review our services, rates, policies, etc. If you decide that you would like to proceed, then we will send you a New Client Packet via mail, e-mail or fax.
For your convenience, our forms are also available for download (in PDF format) directly from our website: OUR FORMS & DOCUMENTS. Please note that you will need a password to access these forms. The password does change regularly, so please be sure to ask us for it or CONTACT US.
PLEASE NOTE: ALL of the original required forms must be completed, signed and in our possession prior to scheduling ANY of our services. These forms are necessary to meet our insurance requirements as well as for us to provide the BEST care possible for you and your pet! We can not accept photocopies, faxed or scanned copies. We need to have your actual signature on file.
2.) Once you've had a chance to review and complete the paperwork, then you will need to CONTACT US to schedule your FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION appointment. This visit is complementary(FREE), but is required for all In-Your-Home visits.
For traditional In-Your-Home services (pet sitting/dog walking/overnight stays in your home, etc.), this visit will be done at your home. Please allow 20 to 45 minutes, depending on the complexity of the routine and the number of pets involved. During this visit, we will meet with you and your pet(s), review our policies and procedures, review the completed paperwork, answer questions, take a tour of the home (all areas that we will need access to), get a working set of keys/security code and create a customized careplan for you and your pet.
You will have the opportunity to ask questions and address any issues or concerns that you may have. It also gives us the opportunity to observe you and your pet(s) in your home environment. Since pets are creatures of habit, we will always do our best to keep a regular schedule that is as close to your usual routine as possible.
In-Our-Home services (private boarding and private daycare done in our home) do not require this pre-service visit. We would be happy to schedule a pre-service visit, if you would like to meet with us prior to booking services.
Clients that are interested in private daycare or boarding for their dog(s), must complete the Preliminary Assessment Form For Dogs prior to scheduling any appointments. This information will be reviewed and used to determine whether or not your pet would be a good fit for our services and vice versa. If we feel that it is a good match, we will proceed with forwarding the remainder of the new client paperwork for your completion. If not, we will work with you to find a suitable alternative.
Please feel free to CONTACT US at any time if you should have any questions and/or concerns.
3.) Once we have a complete and active file for you and your pet, you may CONTACT US at anytime to schedule services. We accept reservations via e-mail, text or phone.
PLEASE NOTE: We will ALWAYS confirm any reservation requests that we receive. If you do not hear from us in a timely manner (usually 24-48 hours), please follow-up by calling or texting us. While we do check our messages frequently, sometimes technical problems can occur. If you call and leave a voicemail message, PLEASE be sure to speak SLOWLY and CLEARLY and REPEAT your phone number. This is especially important for those calling from a cell phone, since the reception can sometimes be less than optimal in our area. For this reason, we prefer TEXT and/or E-MAIL requests.)
We encourage ALL CLIENTS to contact us within 2 days of the start of your service period to confirm your reservations, discuss any changes to the routine, review the care plan, etc. Please remember that it is up to YOU to provide us with the most recent and up-to-date information regarding your pet, your home and the care plan (this includes any changes in feeding and medications schedules as well as general behavioral updates, etc.)
As of January 1, 2016, we will be sending out confirmation e-mails to all clients that have services scheduled for the upcoming week. E-mails will go out at the beginning of the week for the week ahead. A response is appreciated, but not necessary if everything is correct. If we do not have an e-mail address for you, then it will be up to you to contact us to confirm your services and provide any additional information that we might need for your scheduled services. (Please note that this does NOT apply to regularly scheduled clients, such as those with mid-day dog walks Monday thru Friday, etc. The only time it would apply is when there are CHANGES to the usual schedule.)
For the safety of your pet, we ask that you please do not leave your pet home alone until you have gotten a confirmation from us! On those rare occasions when we are not able to accept your reservation, we will gladly work with you to find and/or make alternative arrangements for your pet.
We are the proud founders of the Berkshire County Pet Sitters Network(BCPSN), a group of independently-owned PROFESSIONAL pet sitters in Berkshire County, MA. If we are not able to accommodate your request, we will be glad to make recommendations and referrals to other qualified companies and/or individuals, as needed.
Please feel free to visit our network website at ww.PetSitNet.com
4.) Berkshire Pet Pals, LLC ALWAYS provides WRITTEN daily activity logs for In-Your-Home visits and report cards at the end of each service period (for services > 3 consecutive days).
While we no longer REQUIRE that our clients contact us when they return home, we do ask that they contact us within 24 hours of their return to let us know that they are home and that everything is satisfactory. We take pride in the quality of our services and care about all of our clients and Pet Pals!
Please remember that we will only do services that are scheduled. If you are running late or need additional visits, PLEASE contact us as soon as possible.
PLEASE NOTE: You are always welcome to check-in with us (via phone, e-mail and/or text) at any time during normal business hours.
If you do not hear from us, then EVERYTHING IS FINE! We will make every effort to contact you if there should be any questions, concerns or issues that we need to discuss!
We are always happy to provide calls/texts/emails during the scheduled service period. If you would prefer to have regular updates, please be sure to indicate such on the new client paperwork and make a special request at the start of each scheduled service period.
5.) Established clients can contact us at any time to schedule services. We can almost always accommodate last minute IYH(In-Your-Home) visits. IOH services are much more limited. We ask that you provide as much advance notice as possible, especially if you are reserving one of our private boarding rooms. Due to our limited space, we tend to fill up quickly for weekends, holidays and summer vacations. Our rooms (IOH services) are booked on a first-come, first-serve basis and precedence is always given to our established clients.
Please note that there may be an additional fee for LAST MINUTE reservations. While we are always glad to do our best to accommodate our clients, there may be times when we have others already scheduled for the time that you are requesting. This can sometimes be difficult to do and takes additional time and effort to coordinate. It means that some visits will be earlier or later than originally scheduled. While we do have a 3-hour time frame for all IYH visits, we also have a schedule to follow. For that reason, we may need to charge a $20 fee when the request involves extensive juggling and rearranging of the schedule. If we are not able to accommodate your request, we will let you know and always offer to help find alternative arrangements.
REMINDER: Please be sure to keep your records up-to-date at all times. It is up to our clients to provide us with the most recent vaccination/vet records, pet/home information, etc. We always provide services based on the information that we have in your file (the forms that you have completed for the initial intake and prior to the first visit). It is important that you review it regularly and update it as needed. All changes must be IN WRITING and on OUR FORMS in order to be part of your permanent file. We can not accept changes that are written on Post-It notes or scrap paper! If you need to make changes, please let us know and we will gladly provide you with the appropriate forms.
NOTE TO NEW CLIENTS: Please be advised that we do not provide services to new clients on short notice (<48 hours). We have an intake process that includes considerable paperwork/documentation to be completed and in place BEFORE we can schedule any services. These forms and documents are mandatory (required by our insurance company). They are required so that we can provide the BEST care possible while fulfilling the state laws and insurance regulations.
We will consider EMERGENCIES on a case-by-case basis. If you should have extenuating circumstances, please be sure to let us know. There may be times when we have a little more flexibility and we are glad to help if and when we can.
Please refer to our WEBSITE if you should have any questions and/or concerns. Our current prices, services and policies will always be posted. If you should have any questions and/or concerns, please don't hesitate to CONTACT US!
If you are a NEW CLIENT or are considering services any time in the future, we highly recommend filling out the paperwork and meeting with us for the initial consultation. Once your paperwork is in place, it will be much easier to schedule the services that you need when you need them.
We look forward to meeting you and your pet(s) and welcoming you to our PET PAL FAMILY!
That is it. It is pretty simple.
Please feel free to CONTACT US if you should have any questions and/or concerns.
Thank-you.
Are you ready to get started?
If so, please CONTACT US today!
